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Rangers shoot two coyotes after boy bitten

By Mitchell ByarsThe Daily Camera

Posted:
03/16/2013 12:01:00 AM MDT

BOULDER — Colorado Parks and Wildlife and city of Boulder wildlife officers shot two aggressive coyotes this week after it was reported they chased and bit a boy on the Boulder Creek Path, city officials announced Friday afternoon.

According to a news release, on Sunday at 4 p.m., two coyotes surrounded two 5-year-old boys and their father on the Boulder Creek Path. One of the boys ran to his father, and one of the coyotes chased him and bit his leg, resulting in a scratch.

A young adult female coyote was shot Tuesday evening while an older adult male was shot Thursday night on city open space east of Foothills Parkway near the creek path.

Jennifer Churchill with Colorado Parks and Wildlife said the father was able to give a detailed description of the coyote and rangers are confident the two coyotes shot were the two involved in the attack. Officials added the two coyotes were previously known to both city and Colorado Parks and Wildlife rangers.

"This is pretty much our standard response anytime a coyote bites a person," she said. "We have a pretty good population of coyotes. So coyotes like that need to be removed, because it becomes a public safety issue."

The incident was the first reported attack since Boulder completed a four-week hazing program in February in an effort try to stop a rash of coyote encounters in the area.

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"Certainly whenever there is an aggressive coyote it is a serious situation and certainly is concerning, and that's why lethal action was taken," said Boulder urban wildlife coordinator Valerie Matheson.

While Matheson said they believe this particular incident has been solved, officials still want to examine why the attacks took place.

"Why were those coyotes behaving this way in the first place, and have we addressed the issue from the source?" Matheson said. "I still suspect there may have been some human behavior that contributed to this incident, not from the victims but from people feeding them or causing them to be comfortable around humans."

Matheson said the hazing program will be evaluated to see if changes need to be made before it is implemented next season, but it will not be reinstated this season. Boulder officials said they will continue to monitor coyote activity.

Aggressive coyotes should be reported to Boulder at 303-441-3333 or Colorado Parks and Wildlife at 303-291-7227.

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